Child&#39;s swing



April 8, 1952 L. OT'ls' 2,592,177

' CHILD'S SWING Filed March 18, 1950 3nnentor Lou/5 0775 Gttorneg Patented Apr. 8, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHILDS- SWING Louis W. Otis, Seattle, Wash.

Application March 18, 1950, Serial No. 150,411

Claims.

This invention relates to swings, and more particularly to play swings for children; it being the principal object of the invention to provide a swing that is especially suitable for use by children of the ages of from three to ten years; that provides a substantially safe and secure form of support for the child using it and which is adapted to be actuated through the manipulation of a combined hand hold and foot rest that is associated with a movable seat portion of the swing.

More specifically stated, the various objects of the present invention reside in the provision of a swing comprising a horizontally extending support, with hanger links at its opposite ends, and equipped with a seat member intermediate its ends; the hanger links being pivotally attached at their lower ends to the support and at least one of them being 'operatively connected with the hand and foot lever that is operable by the occupant to actuate the swing; the structure being characterized by mounting the seat for sliding movement along the support and causing it to be reciprocally moved thereon through connection with one of the hanger links in accordance with the back and forth swinging movements of the swing.

Further objects of the invention reside in the details of construction of its various parts, and in their combination and mode of operation as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a swing embodying the improvements of the present invention therein.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the swing of the present invention.

Referring more in detail to the drawings- In its present preferred form of construction, the swing comprises a horizontal support that is made up of two coextensive, rigid bars ill-l (I, placed side by side, in parallel and spaced relationship to receive the lower end portions of the hanger links I l--l l' between them. The hanger links are pivotally fixed at their lower ends to the bars i0--ill by pivot bolts l2 and I2 that extend through the parts.

At their upper ends the hanger links are equipped with strap loops l3 secured by bolts [4, through the mediacy of which loops the swing is suspended in use by cables, or the like, as indicated in Fig. 1 at l5l5. Such cables might be of any practical length, for example, of a length to suspend the swing from a room ceiling at a position close to the floor, or to sus pend it from any other form of support for back and forth swinging in the longitudinal direction of the bars iD-l0.

Supported upon the bars l0-l0 is a horizontally disposed seat plate 20. This comprises a somewhat enlarged central portion 20' with forwardly and rearwardly extending guide portions 20a, 2% which overlie the bars l0--i0 to some extent.

Fixed to the underside of the plate 20, centrally thereof and extending in its longitudinal direction, is a rib, or fin 22 which is freely contained within the slot provided between the bars iii-l0 as seen in Fig. 3. The seat plate is supported for reciprocal travel upon four rollers 25, that are mounted in pairs at opposite sides of the bars ill-40 and forwardly and rearwardly of the central portion, to support the forward and rearward end portions of the plate 20 thereon clear of the bars i0l0 for its reciprocal action therealong. The rollers, or wheels 25, are mouned by pivot studs 26 fixed in the bars and in straps 21 that are horizontally applied to the bars across the outsides of the rollers as well shown in Fig. 1.

Fixed on the rearwardly extending portion 20b of the seat plate 20 is a bearing block 30 and this is connected by a pivot bolt 3| with ends of a pair of links 3232 that are connected at their rear ends by pivot bolt 33 with the rear end hanger link H at a point about midway of its ends. Through this connection, the seat plate 25 will be caused to move forwardly and rearwardly along the bars l0lll with the rearward and forward swinging of the swing and the angular change in position of the hanger ll relative to the bars Ill-l0. 1

In order that the occupant of the swing may cause it to swing back and forth as desired, I have located a vertically directed operating lever 35 between the bars I0-l0 in parallel relationship to hanger link i I. This is pivotally mounted at near a medial point by a bolt 36 that is extended through the bars. A pair of horizontal links 3'|3'| connect the upper end of the lever 35 with the hanger link I i; this connection being made by a pivot 38 through the hanger, and with the upper end of the lever 35 by means of a rod iii that extends to opposite sides of the lever to serve as hand holds, designated in Fig. 4 at Ma and 401). A foot rest in the form of a round rod 45 extends through the lower end of the lever and extends to opposite sides thereof. It is preferred that the seat portion 20 be equipped with a partially enclosing rail 50 supported thereabove by posts 5|, and also that the extended front and rear portions of the plate 20 be longitudinally slotted, as at 54 and 55 for receiving the actuating lever and hanger links therein when the seat is reciprocally actuated.

Assuming the swing to be constructed and sus- 10 pended for use by means of cables !5|5 as indicated in Fig. 1, it is readily apparent that when a child is sittin in the swing as intended, with feet on cross bar 45 and hands gripping the opposite ends of rod 49, he can apply hand and foot pressure on the lever 35 to cause the forward and rearward oscillation of the swing. It will be understood that with this swinging action, the seat 20 will be caused to move reciprocally on the supporting bars |9l0, and opposite to the direction the swing is moving. Thus, the swinging action is facilitated, with greater enjoyment to the user of the swing.

Such swings may be made in various sizes, and of various materials, and various details of construction may be altered without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A swing of the character described comprising a horizontally extending seat mounting beam, suspending links for said beam, equipped with means at their upper ends for suspension from vertical supports spaced in the longitudinal direction of said beam, said links being pivotally attached at their lower ends to the seat mounting beam at its opposite ends respectively, a seat mounted on the seat mounting beam for reciprocal travel therea-long, and means connecting the said seat with one of the said suspending links, to cause its reciprocal travel on the beam during swinging in accordance with change of the angular relationship of the beam and the suspending link.

2. A swing of the character described comprising a horizontally extending seat mounting beam, suspending links for said beam, equipped with means at their upper ends for swinging suspension from vertical supports spaced in the longitudinal direction of the beam, said links being pivotally attached to the seat mounting beam at its opposite ends respectively, to permit swinging of the beam in its longitudinal direction, a seat supported for reciprocal travel along said seat supporting beam, a link connecting the seat and one of said suspending links to efiect the reciprocal action of the seat on the beam incident to swinging of the swing, an operating lever pivotally mounted on said beam and a connecting link between said lever and one of said links and handles on said operating lever positioned to be grasped by the occupant of the seat to efiect the swinging action.

3. A swing as in claim 2 wherein the said handles are on the upper portion of said operating lever and said operatin lever extends below the seat mounting rail and is there equipped with foot rests against which foot pressure can be applied by the occupant of the seat to supplement the hand action in causing swinging.

4. A swing as recited in claim 2 wherein said seat mounting beam comprises two coextensive rails in laterally spaced relationship, and said seat is provided on its under side with a longitudinal guide flange disposed between said rails, and rollers are mounted on the beam for the reciprocal support of the seat thereon.

5. A swing of the character described including a horizontally extending seat mounting beam comprising two laterally spaced rails, a suspending link at each end of said beam, said links being equipped with means at their upper ends for suspension from vertical supports, spaced in the longitudinal direction of the beam, said links being pivotally connected to the beam to permit the swinging thereof in its longtiudinal direction, rollers mounted on the beam, a seat plate mounted on the rollers for reciprocal travel on the beam in its longitudinal direction, a guide flange fixed on the underside of the seat plate lengthwise thereof for guided travel between said rails, a link pivotally connected at its ends to said seat plate and to one of said links to efiect a reciprocal action of the seat with the swinging of the beam, an operating lever pivotally mounted on said beam and a connecting link between said lever and one of said links, handles extending from the upper portion of said operating lever and accessible to the occupant of the seat and foot rests extending from the lower end of the operating lever at a distance below the beam; said seat plate having longitudinal slots in its forward and rearward end portions adapted to receive the suspending links thereinto as the seat is reciprocally moved in opposite directions.

LOUIS W. OTIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,478,673 Soderholm Aug. 9, 1949 2,491,875 Revelle Dec. 20, 1949 

